Naming Day
by MsWikit
Summary: The Dolorosa has been waiting for weeks for the grub she rescued to emerge from his cocoon. Hopefully when he does, she'll have thought of a name. One shot.


Porrim was having a nightmare.

She was being chased through streets and fields and swamps. The pounding of footsteps was never far behind her. In her arms she carried her treasure, a little candy red grub that cried louder and louder as she ran. He knew that it was not her that was was in danger; it was himself. Suddenly Porrim was tripped by some treacherous rock or root. The grub flew from her arms and landed in the dust. His crying was suddenly silenced. He didn't move. He didn't breathe.

"NO, PLEASE!" Porrim shrieked, stretching out a hand towards him. Someone grabbed her from behind and began to drag her away. Back to the caverns, away from her little one...

A highblood raised his sword, preparing to finish the grub off-

She sat up suddenly, her chest heaving. There were tears pooling her eyes. All she could think about was that sword. The moonlight reflecting off the blade, raising to end his life for good...Porrim took a deep breath to compose herself. Her little one was not in any danger. Not anymore, at least. She'd found them a good home. A cave, hidden deep in the wilderness, where he could grow and live his life in peace. They were safe.

Porrim rose from her sleeping place, which was nothing but a large pile of soft leaves and moss. They could not afford the luxuries of a regular hive. This didn't bother her so much as it would bother her charge. The nightmares that plagued young trolls began to fade away around the age of seven or eight sweeps, when most became more violent. But her little one would have nothing to beat away the dark thoughts and images that plagued the subconscious of their species. He would have to endure it somehow. Though Porrim couldn't imagine having dreams like_ that _every single day.

Suddenly, she became aware that something was watching her.

She instinctively turned towards the cave entrance. She'd covered it with some green cloth that she had found and camouflaged to the best of her ability so that it would match the rest of the foliage. Despite this, it was always possible that some creature had wandered in. But there was nothing. Behind her, something squealed.

Porrim turned around and saw a young troll sitting on the cave floor. He looked to be about one sweep old (the average age at the end of pupation) and was completely naked. A few feet away his candy red cocoon had been broken open. He must have emerged during the day while she was sleeping. The young troll smiled brightly and held out his hands to his custodian. It was as if he recognized her from his days as a grub. Perhaps he did. Perhaps he remembered her caring for him in the weeks before his pupation. Perhaps he even could hear her talking to him as he slept in his cocoon, assuring him that he'd grow up to be strong, brave, and smart.

Smiling back at him, she knelt down and stretched out her arms. "Come to me."

The little troll hesitantly stood on his feet. He wobbled unsteadily on his small gray legs. After finally getting his balance, he took a couple of shaky steps forward. There were stumbles and a couple of falls, but eventually he managed to toddle into Porrim's waiting arms. After pupation, young trolls learned at an alarmingly fast rate. They could walk only minutes after tumbling out of their cocoons, and they would learn to speak in a matter of weeks. They had to, after all. Otherwise they would end up dying in the caverns.

"I guess I can't avoid naming you any longer, now can I?" Porrim said, running her hand through his soft hair.

"Riiii!" the little troll squealed.

It had occurred to her weeks ago that she had no idea how to name a troll. Typically, that was the job of the lusus. They would make a particular sound and their charge would learn to answer to it. That sound eventually became their name. But how was she, a troll, supposed to go about it? She could always name him after some famous warrior from long ago. Or perhaps she could try to make up a pleasant-sounding name off the top of her head-

"Kank-riiiii!" the little one said.

Porrim stared at him. "What was that?" 

"Kank-riiiii!" he cried again, bouncing on his heels.

"Kankri?" She smiled faintly. Leave it to a tiny troll like him to come up with a completely nonsense word like that. "...Kankri. That rolls off of the tongue nicely."

The troll grinned widely, his small sharp teeth gleaming in the faint light.

"Do you want to be called Kankri?" Porrim asked. It was a good a name as any. Why should she bother coming up with one when the child had just done it for her? "Hm? Do you like that name?"

"Kankri!" the troll replied enthusiastically.

Porrim chuckled and hugged him. "You're Kankri from now on then...now let's try on the clothes I made for you. I've had a lot of free time while you've been sleeping."


End file.
